We've just
learned that Simon Pegg will star in Absolutely
Anything, a brand new film that reunites the surviving Monty Python
castmembers. But how will this movie stack up to the canon of Monty Python
spinoffs? Here are 12 Python side projects, ranked in order of greatness.

Looks like Simon Pegg has crossed one more genre staple off his movie bucket list: zombies, aliens, …
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Note: For the purposes of this list, we're focusing on
projects that had two or more members of the Python crew involved — and the
more Pythons involved, the stronger the claim.

12) Splitting Heirs

Who's involved: Eric Idle (Writer/Star), John Cleese (actor)

What's it about: A soggy "switched at birth" epic
in which Idle is the true heir to a dukedom but they accidentally give it to
Rick Moranis instead. Instead of a manic farce, in the mold of Start the Revolution Without Me, it's a
mopey gentle comedy in which you don't really care who gets to be the duke.
Cleese is a barrister who suggests just killing the imposter duke. It has 8 percent on Rotten
Tomatoes, and Roger Ebert panned it. See the whole movie for yourself, above.

11) Erik The Viking

What's it about: Jones adapts his children's book into a
mock-fantasy epic about a reluctant Viking warrior (Tim Robbins) who doesn't
want to rape and pillage, and thus goes on a quest to put an end to Ragnarok,
the war of the gods. It's cute but nothing to write home about, and the rape
jokes get tiresome. Cleese is pretty great as the baddie, who wants to keep the
war going. The whole movie is right here.

10) Yellowbeard

What's it about: Once again, you can watch the whole thing right here! It's
a lightweight pirate spoof in which Chapman is the notorious pirate
Yellowbeard, who's searching for his lost treasure — but the map to the
treasure is tattooed on the head of his useless son. Sadly, much like the
Viking movie, the pirate movie is lacking a certain amount of lightness on its
feet and feels at times like a comedy sketch that's just going on too long.

9) Broaden
Your Mind

What's it about: Around the same time Monty Python was
becoming a huge sensation, another British comedy series was sort of sneaking
under the radar — the more kid-friendly slapstick show The Goodies. And before either Python or The Goodies existed, the three Goodies had this sketch show which
featured many of the Pythons in various roles. The Goodies and Cleese knew each
other from Cambridge
University's Footlights
comedy revue, and also took part in the radio showI'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. Sadly,
not much exists of Broaden Your Mind,
and what there is isn't all that funny.

8) The Rutles: All You Need is Cash

What's it about: A wacky spoof of the Beatles, with George
Harrison and various other famous people involved. Spun off from the TV show
Rutland Weekend Television, it goes ridiculously far to try and shadow the
real-life Beatles' history, to the point where the comedy feels a bit subdued
at times. Also depends a bit too much on cameos from Mick Jagger, rather than
going full-bore with the satire.

7) Do
Not Adjust Your Set

What's it about: Another precursor to Python — this sketch
comedy show was aimed
at children, but achieved huge crossover success, and some of the sketches
were recycled for Python later. It's definitely not as wild or bonkers as
Python, but it's crackling with energy and silliness. And unlike Broaden Your Mind, tons of episodes
exist, and they're all on Youtube. Also, around the same time, Cleese and
Chapman were doing a sketch-comedy show called At Last, the 1948 Show, and it appears that all of those
episodes are on Youtube as well! Huzzah!

6)
Starship Titanic

Who's involved: John Cleese (voice actor), Terry Jones
(voice actor)

What's it about: Douglas Adams created this video game,
which was released on CD-ROM, in which you explore a spaceship crashed on Earth
and try to get it working again. Cleese voices the Bomb, and Jones is the
Parrot. (Jones also wrote a novel based on the game.) There is absolutely tons
of information about the game, along with links to surrounding materials, here.
Apparently you can still play the game if you install the right emulator
program. And by all accounts, it's a fun lark, full of great puzzles and lovely
humor.

5) How to Irritate People

What's it about: Sort of a comedy documentary about how to
be irritating, hosted by Cleese himself, which is an excuse to have lots of
comedy sketches about people being irritating. Looks like all of it is on
Youtube, in various clips, and it's got a very Python-esque vibe to it. The
first sketch is about the well-known
phenomenon of commenting obnoxiously while other people are trying to watch
television.

4)
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

What's it about: A live-action movie version of Wind in the Willows, the classic
children's fantasy. Jones is the toad who just wants to ride around in his
motorcar, which winds up getting him into lots of ridiculous trouble. Unlike
some of the other narrative films on this list, like Erik the Viking or Yellowbeard,
this feels less like a comedy sketch blown up to movie length and more like a
fun silly fantasy romp aimed at kids. I walked out of the theater grinning dementedly.
The whole thing appears to be on Youtube.

3)
Ripping Yarns

What's it about: Words cannot express how much I love this
show, which is a collection of spoofs of boys' own adventure stories. One week,
it'll be about escaping from a Nazi prison, the next it'll be about fitting in
at a tough boarding school. One of the best is an explorer story called
"Across the Andes by Frog," in which the frogs don't entirely make
it. What makes this show so great is that it celebrates as well as mocking the
pulpy stories that it's spoofing. There are also two book tie-ins.

2) A Fish Called
Wanda

Who's involved: John Cleese (writer/actor), Michael Palin
(actor).

What's it about: A zany heist-comedy, in which Cleese plays
a vain barrister and Palin plays a stammering crook. Along with Clockwise and a couple other films, this
represents the best of Cleese's movie output, with pretty much every set piece
being perfect and wonderful. The cast reunited for another film, Fierce Creatures, which we will never
speak of again. (Apparently, Fierce
Creaturesran
into huge trouble because audiences didn't like an early cut, directed by
the director of Splitting Heirs — so
a year later, they did massive reshoots with a different director.)

1) All of Terry
Gilliam's Early Films

Who's involved: We're compressing Jabberwocky, Time Bandits,
Brazil and Baron Munchausen into one category because otherwise this list
would be dominated by Gilliam films. Palin is in Jabberwocky, Brazil
and Time Bandits (which he co-wrote),
Eric Idle is in Munchausen, Cleese is
in Time Bandits, and Jones is in Jabberwocky.

What's it about: These films are brilliant, and you should
see them. Especially Brazil,
a bleak dystopian comedy. And Time
Bandits, a surprisingly savage film about time-traveling little people who
take a child with them. Seriously, marathon these films over the holiday
weekend.